# Escudo - a noob's review



## Desertlifter (Feb 22, 2011)

Time for the latest in my "smoke my way through my noob trade stuff" adventure. Today I chose Escudo with some help from my BOTL's in another of my "I don't feel like making my own decision" threads. 

Got home from work and relaxed for a few, then gathered my smoking supplies. Pipe? Check. Tobacco? Check. Pipe tool and matches? Check and check. Rubbed the escudo, packed my pipe (MM Diplomat), and gathered the rest of my essential "fair weather" pipe smoking supplies. Cell phone, Maxim magazine, dog, and empty milk carton.

Took everything out to the patio (except the dog - she takes herself), kicked the milk jug out into the snow, and while my lab/border collie mix fantasized about the milk jug being a duck/sheep hybrid - alternately herding it and retrieving it for me - I lit up my pipe and copped a squat on my glider rocker.

This tobacco was "sproingy" when I packed the bowl. I read about saving a bowl-sized disk of tobacco for the middle of the bowl, so I had packed it thusly. Initial light brought on big fluffy clouds of smoke, a bit of pepper (perique?), very subtle sweetness, and a bit more cigar-ish flavor than I have had in other pipe tobaccos so far. Liked it. This was also very easy to light and keep thusly, at least for the first half of the bowl.

As I sipped my way through the escudo the peppery flavor abated somewhat and I was greeted by a very subtle sweetness. I couldn't tell if this was from the tobacco or the pipe - it was almost "cobbish." Etymologists love me, and why not? At this point the burn was abating a bit and I let the bowl extinguish itself for a dinner break. It just seemed right, and I had not tried this yet. Sacrilege in cigar-land, but reportedly acceptable on the pipe side.

It was about 45 degrees when I first lit up, but the sun was now heading to the ocean. After my dinner and a news break, I went back outside (with shady the smoking dog of course), re-lit the pipe, and found ......that it was just fine. Initial pepper once again abated, and the tobacco kept smoldering away in my pipe. A bit of sweetness returned when I reached the disk of un-rubbed tobacco, and then it abated again deeper into the bowl.

In the end this was what I would call a light to medium tobacco with subtle sweetness and a touch of pepper. It bit a skosh on lighting/relighting, but rewarded a slow sip with an even burn. Now that I've finished the smoke and am enjoying puff with a nut brown ale, I note that I have no tongue bite - I think that the bite I received on lighting the pipe was more from the perique than anything else. The tobacco itself was noticeably cooler than my previous Frog Morton or Maple Street - especially the Maple Street. I can't over-emphasize the (for me) mild flavor of this smoke. It went out once toward the end of the bowl and I didn't notice because the temperature had dropped enough that I was puffing and exhaling steam. This would be overwhelmed by my typical smoking beverages - whiskeys, port, or perhaps cognac. I quite enjoyed it and anticipate keeping it around - good for a morning smoke.

Now question time if you've made it this far. Verbosity is my watchword.

I was puffing away toward the end of the bowl during the second half of my smoke when I noticed that it had gone out. Figuring that I was done, I tapped out the ashes. Similar to most other bowls of tobacco in my brief piping career, there was a layer of unburned tobacco in the bottom of the bowl. Is this normal? I am thinking that perhaps it is tobacco that is at the end of and perhaps under the end of the shank - there is a bit of room below it at the bottom of the bowl. Thoughts?

Submitted for your approval on January 26th - notably Douglas MacArthur's birthday. Good day for a corncob pipe, n'est ce pas?


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## TommyTree (Jan 7, 2012)

A fine review, and I enjoyed seeing the cigar smoker come through on the descriptions. And your experience with it mirrors, my own and those of many pipe smokers. You're actually much more attuned to the intricacies of the tobacco than I was as a newbie.

The tobacco left over, by the way, is dottle, and it is common enough to be mentioned in the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes saves his dottle to smoke the next morning. Blecchh.) Experienced pipe smokers can usually smoke through to the bottom and not have any left over, but I still have trouble sometimes, especially if the pipe goes out near the bottom. If you want to smoke it (and you probably should if you're breaking in a pipe) top it with some fresh tobacco from the tin.

Can't wait to see more reviews from you. Keep up the good work.


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## RJpuffs (Jan 27, 2008)

Good review! Yes, Escudo is THE bomb, naught any VaPers like it. Try smoking it different ways, rubbed out, rolled up, rolled in, rolled out, crunched, mashed, ad infinitum - you'll find delightful surprises in each method.


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## Nachman (Oct 16, 2010)

My dog gets excited when I get my pipe because it means we are going out. Pipes and dogs go together. On smoking dottle, When I get to that point, I crush the dottle with a tamper and relight. I do that at the end of every pipe. The dottle is stronger, and gives you that little bit of extra nicotine to hold you for a while.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Very fine review, Brian! :tu It sounds as though this advice is too late, but one of the secrets of cob smoking is to not destroy the part of the shank that extends into the bowl. Heat from the first 10 or 15 bowls will boil off the turpentine on the shank, but relighting the dottle as you would with breaking in a briar will burn through it. Dump the dottle early with a cob at first, only approaching a complete burn gradually. Eventually the bottom will fill in with ash and be smooth with the draft hole right at the bottom, just like a briar. Never scrape out the pseudo-bottom shank extension of a cob with a pipe tool.

As for Escudo, scarcely a better smoke to be found!


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## Desertlifter (Feb 22, 2011)

freestoke said:


> Very fine review, Brian! :tu It sounds as though this advice is too late, but one of the secrets of cob smoking is to not destroy the part of the shank that extends into the bowl. Heat from the first 10 or 15 bowls will boil off the turpentine on the shank, but relighting the dottle as you would with breaking in a briar will burn through it. Dump the dottle early with a cob at first, only approaching a complete burn gradually. Eventually the bottom will fill in with ash and be smooth with the draft hole right at the bottom, just like a briar. Never scrape out the pseudo-bottom shank extension of a cob with a pipe tool.As for Escudo, scarcely a better smoke to be found!


Actually not too late! I read other info suggesting that I burn out that extension, however I also read in archives here not to do so. Naturally Puff advice wins!


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## Bent Stem (Nov 10, 2008)

If you like Escudo you MUST stash some away! This stuff, over the years becomes heavenly! Do yourself a favor and cellar LOTS of it away and I promise you won't be sorry!


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2012)

I just placed an order earlier today, after this review, I absolute cannot wait for it to come


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## blackadam (Jun 28, 2011)

Escudo is so far my favorite tobacco. Satisfying, reliable, and delicious.


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## Trout Langston (Dec 1, 2011)

Love this stuff (and not simply because I manage the brand). In the tin it has a wonderful hay-like smell. I recently learned that Esudo has over 10% Perique, which kind of shocked me.


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## Kelsier (Feb 23, 2012)

Great tobacco in a great pipe! You're starting at the top as far as VaPers are concerned. It will be a struggle to find one quite as enjoyable. There's just something about it that is utterly intoxicating - maybe it just has that perfect amount of perique that others strive to achieve. Also, that diplomat is the perfect starting pipe. I just got one recently, and to be honest it smokes better than a lot of briars that cost upwards of a hundred dollars.


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